Last fall I developed and taught a fun online workshop for Simplify 101 called Simplify Your Life with Habits + Routines. I’m delighted that it’s being offered again, February 21 through March 20. You can sign up now and get early-bird pricing (20 percent off!) through January 27.
Tagged with: aby garvey, habits, routines, workshops
If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I’m practically fanatical about the benefits of good habits and routines.
Tagged with: habits, routines, television
I’m a huge believer in the value of routines. They keep my life running smoothly. But right now, my routines are all messed up. I was away for a week, attending the ICD conference. Then I was home for four days and too busy to focus on my surroundings. Then I left home for a lovely, relaxing weekend in Nashville with friends.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, aby garvey, habits, routines, travel
I can barely contain my excitement: I can finally announce that I’ll be teaching a fun online workshop for Simplify 101 called Simplify Your Life with Habits + Routines! The workshop will be offered October 4 through November 1. You can sign up now and get early-bird pricing through September 8.
Tagged with: aby garvey, habits, routines, workshops
I’m a huge believer in the power of routines. I try to stick to the ones I’ve established religiously, since I find that sometimes it’s challenging to jump back on the bandwagon once a routine has been disrupted.
Tagged with: routines
I make no secret of the fact that I love Unclutterer.com. It’s a smart, informative blog on living simply and I read it regularly. The editor, Erin Doland, does an amazing job with keeping the daily content fresh.
Tagged with: blogs, guest post, routines, unclutterer
I love the blog Unclutterer. Erin Doland, who writes most of the posts, is so smart and such a great writer. I love her perspective on striving to live a clutter-free life.
Tagged with: clutter, disorder, erin doland, order, routines, unclutterer
Organization systems, as well as habits and routines, are usually set up with current circumstances in mind. When circumstances change, the systems or routines might fall apart. In other words, life takes zigs and zags and if systems keep going straight, they’re not going to work.
I forgot to blog yesterday. I’ve been blogging every Monday, Wednesday and Friday since December 27. Then, last week, I made a conscious decision to skip Wednesday’s and Friday’s posts and just do one post on Thursday (about that conscious decision).
Some effort is better than no effort. That’s the philosophy I’m embracing at the moment when it comes to exercise. For some reason, I’ve fallen off the exercise bandwagon, despite the fact that I’ve put on a few pounds and so am reminded of the need to exercise on a very regular basis.
The past couple of weeks have been very busy for me and I haven’t been home a whole lot. I did take one glorious at-home day off a week ago Saturday, where I caught up on my TV and did some knitting. (Boy that day went by fast!) I did nothing but relax, which I sorely needed.
Tagged with: disorder, habits, order, pockets of time, routines
I’m going to be 50 next year and like many people my age, my vision isn’t what it used to be. Reading, in particular can be challenging. I’ve been wearing progressive lenses (distance vision in the top, reading vision in the bottom, with a little intermediate in between) for some years.
Tagged with: clean desk, email, habits, irritations, routines
Meagan Francis, a writer I’m acquainted with through the online community Freelance Success, is a mother of five. In her blog, The Happiest Mom she provides insights from her journey to happiness in motherhood.
A friend shared this slideshow with me from B.J. Fogg, Ph.D. of Stanford University’s Persuasive Tech Lab, entitled 3 steps to new habits. It presents a very simple approach to creating new habits.
So far this year I’ve established a couple of new habits that benefited greatly by starting with a clean slate.
It’s funny how the turn of the calendar page to a new year makes people want to change their ways and resolve to behave differently. It’s certainly true of me. While I haven’t set any resolutions, per se, I do set goals and I do try to create new habits.
Tagged with: goals, products, routines, shannon wilkinson
On New Year’s Eve day, the weather was unseasonably warm here in St. Louis (so warm we had a tornado!). At the risk of being indelicate, I’ll share that I spent some pre-storm time picking up the dog poop in our back yard. The snow had melted, revealing many piles.
For the last ten days, I’ve been using habitforge to help me create the routine of putting my clothes away properly at the end of the day (something I’ve had trouble with for years). I’ve found it very motivating.
Tagged with: accountability, don't break the chain, habitforge, habits, routines
I’m all for doing things well and keeping commitments. But sometimes, just a little bit of effort is better than no effort. And sometimes if you make a little effort, it can turn into more effort.
Tagged with: exercise, mark forster, motivation, routines
Discipline is an interesting word, isn’t it? When it’s used to express how one person interacts with another (a parent disciplining a child, for example, or an employer disciplining an employee), it has negative connotations. It’s no fun to have someone discipline you and, I can imagine, it’s not fun disciplining someone else.
Tagged with: don't break the chain, habits, routines
January is almost over (already). As I’ve blogged about before, for the last couple of years I’ve been trying to add one big habit per year that will help me be happier and more productive. In 2008, it was clearing my desk at the end of the workday. In 2009 it was whittling my email inbox down to 15 or fewer messages every day. I’m going gangbusters on both of those.
Tagged with: declutter happy hour, empowerment, goals, habits, routines, shannon wilkinson, teleclasses, telephone coaching
I’ve written here before about the importance of habits and routines to make your life easier. I call it automating your life. Over the past couple of years, I’ve created some habits which have helped me maintain order around my home and office. (This is huge, because I’m a naturally messy person.)
Tagged with: aby garvey, clean desk, flylady, habits, routines
If you read my blog with any regularity, you’ve read about my infatuation with the Wii Fit. I’ve found it a fun and effective way to get exercise and stay in shape. (I’m a huge couch potato and don’t need to exercise to stay trim, so it’s hard for me to motivate myself to exercise.)
I’ve been home from Australia for six days now. Apart from the very first night home, when I slept long and hard after 24 consecutive hours of travel, I haven’t been sleeping properly. I’m a good sleeper (my mom’s narcoleptic…it’s in my genes) but I’ve experienced what it must be like to be an insomniac. Most nights, I’ve just not been getting sleepy at bedtime.
Tagged with: margaret lukens, productivity, routines, travel, wendy davie
I’ve written about my infatuation with the Wii Fit I purchased in April. I built a routine of doing Wii Fit six days a week (I’d take Thursdays off) and was going strong. I was so enthusiastic about it that my friend Margaret Lukens of New Leaf + Company interviewed me about it and included me and my Wii Fit in a blog post she wrote about exercise this week.
Tagged with: exercise, margaret lukens, routines
I am absolutely delighted to be a guest blogger on the popular blog, I’m an Organizing Junkie today. My post is on one of my favorite topics, creating routines to help maintain order.
Tagged with: guest post, organizing junkie, routines
This morning, I read this wonderful Unclutterer blog post, in which Erin Doland wrote about how she didn’t freak out when she learned her in-laws were coming for an overnight stay that day. Since she’s embraced an uncluttered lifestyle, the unexpected visit didn’t mean any scrambling.
I’ve written here many times about Don’t Break the Chain, a website that has been effective in helping me establish some routines (like cleaning off my desk every night, blogging regularly and, now, making sure the top of my bureau stays clean).
But there’s another game in town I’d like to shine a light on. It’s Joe’s Goals, a free website that allows you to track your daily goals. I use it regularly as well, though for a few months I’d let it fall by the wayside.
Tagged with: don't break the chain, joe's goals, routines
On January 5, 2008 I resolved to clear my desk off every day at the end of the workday. I envisioned sitting down at my desk every morning with a clear desk and hoped that it would help me start the day on the right foot.
Tagged with: clean bureau, clean desk, don't break the chain, habits, routines
Two years ago today, I wrote my first post on this blog. The topic was “What is organized?”
Sometimes I feel like a broken record when I write here (or in my newsletter) about the importance of routines. It’s just that I’m reminded very frequently about how much of an impact they can have on order, productivity and overall peace of mind.
Tagged with: don't break the chain, joe's goals, jott, productivity, routines, travel
I’m home from my latest trip. And I’m here to stay for awhile! It’s nice to be back sleeping in my own bed, though I’m feeling a little foggy. I blame Pip, my standard poodle, who had me up in the night several times last night needing to go out.
This week’s Blog of the Week is an oldie but goodie. I first became aware of Flylady back in the late nineties, before I ever dreamt of becoming a professional organizer. Technically, it’s not a blog. (It predates blogs.) But it’s frequently updated and full of treasures.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, blog of the week, decluttering, flylady, routines
Being on time to client appointments has been a challenge for me. I blogged about this three months ago, at which time I vowed to make some changes to my morning routine, including implementing some checklists, so that I’d be on time instead of rushing like a mad woman in the morning.
Tagged with: control, punctuality, routines, time management
I’m a punctuality-challenged person. That’s not a great trait for a professional organizer. My clients have a reasonable expectation that I’ll arrive on time. And besides, it’s just good business to be respectful of your clients’ time.
Tagged with: control, joe's goals, mark forster, punctuality, routines, silvercreek glider club, time management
Chances are you’re familiar with Flylady. Flylady, who’s real name is Marla Cilley, has a wildly popular website which helps readers dig out from clutter, establish routines, and stay organized.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, decluttering, flylady, habits, routines
I love having a blog. The freedom to write whatever I want is wonderful. (Way, way back in the day I had a column in PetLife magazine in which I could write whatever I wanted. It was exhilarating.)
But that freedom is a two-edged sword. With little structure surrounding what to write, and no deadlines, it can be very difficult to (1) take the time to post to my blog and (2) come up with something remotely meaningful to write.
Tagged with: blogs, don't break the chain, michael neill, routines, steven pressfield, time management, writing
Janine Adams, CPO®, CPO-CD®, specializes in working with chronically disorganized clients.
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